FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2000-51
Paul R. Berger and Linda Chatman Thomsen Named
Associate Directors of SEC's Division of Enforcement
Washington, DC, April 24, 2000 - Securities and Exhange
Commission Director of Enforcement Richard H. Walker today
announced the selection of Paul R. Berger and Linda Chatman
Thomsen as Associate Directors of the Commission's Division of
Enforcement. As Associate Directors, Mr. Berger and Ms. Thomsen
will serve as senior officials in the Division of Enforcement and
will assist in planning and directing the Commission's
enforcement efforts. The recent departure of Paul V. Gerlach and
the creation of an additional associate director slot made these
two positions available.
Richard H. Walker, Director of the SEC's Division of
Enforcement, said, "Having worked closely with Paul and Linda
during the past few years, I know each to be a top-flight
securities lawyer. Each has a long track record of bringing
important cases that have made our securities markets safer and
fairer. I am sure they will continue to fight securities fraud
with the same passion, tenacity, and good judgment that they have
brought to their past efforts with the Commission."
Mr. Berger, 49, has been an attorney with the Division of
Enforcement since 1992. Most recently he has served as Assistant
Director in the Division of Enforcement. In that position, Mr.
Berger supervised the Commission's case against
NationsBank/NationsSecurities, the first case filed by the
Commission against a national bank and its affiliated broker-
dealer for deceptive and misleading sales practices associated
with the sale of securities on the premise of a bank. Among many
other cases, Mr. Berger was responsible for directing and
overseeing the Commission's accounting fraud case against Livent,
Inc., a Canadian-based theatrical producer, and ten of its
officers and employees, as well as the Commission's recent
Internet fraud case filed against Washington, D.C. law students.
Mr. Berger received the Commission's Stanley Sporkin Award in
1999, which is given in recognition of outstanding contributions
to the Division of Enforcement. Prior to joining the Commission,
he was an attorney at the law firm of Jenner & Block in
Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit. Mr. Berger has a B.A. from The American
University and a law degree from Antioch School of Law.
Ms. Thomsen, 45, came to the Commission in 1995 as Assistant
Chief Litigation Counsel. In 1997, Ms. Thomsen was named
Assistant Director for the Division of Enforcement. During her
tenure at the Commission, she has overseen the investigation and
litigation of numerous cases. Among other things, she has
successfully tried and settled insider trading cases, including
emergency cases involving foreign trading; and shut down a Ponzi
scheme, recovering millions of dollars for investors. She was a
member of the team that obtained a $47 million judgment against
Michael Milken in the 1998 Commission case against Milken for
violating the Commission's 1991 Order barring him from the
securities industry. Before coming to the Commission, Ms.
Thomsen was an attorney at the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell
in Washington, D.C. and New York, and also served as an Assistant
U.S. Attorney in the District of Maryland. She received her A.B.
from Smith College and her law degree from Harvard Law School.
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